The Final Tale
by Shebalba
Summary: Chapter 3 is up! Sorry for the wait, everyone!
1. Chap 1

On the border of the Shadowlands, an old man appeared in the forests around Dread Mountain late at night. He was much out of breath, his clothes were ripped to shreds, and he looked as though he would collapse at any moment. The man looked ancient, as though he had been alive since the beginning of time. His beard came down to his waist, where it was tucked into his belt. His hair was even longer. He leaned against a tree, clutching a small parcel to his chest. And after several minutes, he did collapse. Still clutching the parcel, he fell to the ground, where he would never awaken.  
A small group of Dread gnomes had been watching the man, and now approached cautiously, for anyone who came from the Shadowlands was considered an enemy. But when they saw a scrawled and faint note written on the outer cover of the parcel, they changed their minds entirely.  
For upon this parcel, the writing addressed it to the king of Del, and the addresser was someone they all knew.  
  
The next morning, Lief was down in the kitchens, hoping to get a morsel before breakfast, which seemed so far away, even though it must only be half an hour till. He was just searching the cupboards when a voice behind him made him jump.  
"Lief! You get your hands out of that cupboard and wait like everyone else!" He turned around slowly, knowing already who he would see.  
"You may be king, but I'm still your mother."  
"I'll never forget that, especially with you behind my back everywhere I go!" he said jokingly.  
"You better not. Now come on, get yourself out of here, and wait for breakfast."  
Lief left the kitchens, satisfied that he at least had a muffin in his pocket. When he reached down to grab it, though, his pocket was empty. He saw a familiar bird fly ahead of him, and smiled. Around the corner of the hallway, Kree perched on Jasmine's shoulder, with a muffin in its beak. Jasmine took the muffin and took a large bite.  
"You know, these muffins are absolutely delicious," she said.  
"Very funny, Jasmine," Lief retorted.  
Then behind him, a voice said, "Now, now, kids, don't fight."  
Lief turned to see Barda behind him.  
"Well," he said, "breakfast is only about ten minutes away, now, and I fancy having some. You two can finish arguing about the muffin, though, if you like."  
Lief and Jasmine quickly followed him downstairs. 


	2. Chap 2

A troop of gnomes had been sent out to deliver the parcel. None of them could believe that the king of Del would be receiving anything from a legend buried so deep in gnomish history. The legend of Shriivok the Seer was known only by the eldest of the gnomes, who told the story to the younger ones. Many had forgotten the legend until this day, when the familiar name was seen on the parcel that the gnomes dutifully carried onward to Del. They now came upon the land where the lapis lazuli had formerly been hidden in the Shifting Sands. Their journey was noted by many, as almost everyone there had never even seen gnomes before, and had heard of them only from travelers from afar. Thus the gnomes pressed onward, to deliver the parcel from Shriivok.  
  
Lief walked among the city tonight, as he did so often nowadays. He walked past the forge and the market. Past homes filled with sleeping families. He thought about adventures past, remembering when he first learned that he would be setting off on a journey. Remembering when he first learned he was king of Del. And remembering when he learned of the Pirran Pipe. He looked at the moon, almost full tonight, and… was it just him, or was the moon getting smaller? He blinked twice, and looked again. What the…? he thought. It wasn't just him. And then he remembered something else, he remembered himself sitting outside as a child, watching the moon. What was it called again? An eclipse, wasn't it? Yes, he remembered now. There were many superstitions about them, happening so infrequently, and the last few had been during dark times. But the Deltora Annals had used them several times to mark dates. "The eclipse in the summer of that that year," noted a tale held in the years before the Shadow.  
So, feeling like a kid again, he sat down, and watched the moon shrink slowly, as if it were slowly disappearing forever, until the last sliver disappeared into darkness. Only the stars shone brightly now, thousands of pinpricks in the sky.  
He looked down to the Belt of Deltora, expecting to see it gleaming in the starlight.  
He was dumbfounded, however, to see not seven beautiful gleaming spots, but five. He squinted, and could make out the ruby and emerald… Both dull and foreboding.  
He could not believe this! All is safe! he thought. The Shadow banished! The slaves freed! What could be wrong!? He was bewildered. He was angry! After everything they had done! But now, the topaz was drawing him to it. Before he knew what was happening, his hand had touched the topaz, and he calmed down instantly. He could not let anger blind him. He would search the Annals. That was the most obvious thing to do. In the meantime, he would tell no one. He couldn't worry anyone just yet. He immediately head for the library, almost running. Not noticing that the moon would not return from its shadow that night. 


	3. Chap 3

Sorry I haven't updated in AGES, I got lost in other stuff, and all that. You know the story. It's so out of date now (. This was supposed to be my version of the Shadow Lord's demise. But now that DQ3 is out... Anyway, I'm going to continue this story like DQ3 never happened, and go with how it was originally meant to be. Thanks for being so patient.... Even if you weren't, I'm just saying that... Oh you know what I mean! And now, on with the story!

This'll be a short chapter until I get back into the rhythm of things

Sorry, NOW on with the story!

Lief had locked himself up in the library for days, only leaving for food and water. He poured over volume after volume of the Annals, only to find nothing. Absolutely nothing. Then again, he didn't have much to go on. The dimness of the gems could mean anything. It was a needle in a haystack. And he didn't even know what the needle was supposed to look like.

He rubbed his eyes as he turned one more page. The words blurred as he tried to focus his eyes on the small scripture. He sighed. There was no way he would find anything if he could barely keep himself awake. He yawned as he closed the book, leaving a shred of paper to mark his place. The weight in his eyelids increased tenfold as the idea of sleep emblazoned itself in his thoughts, and he fell asleep, using the leather cover of the large book as a makeshift pillow.

Sharn carried an armful of fresh fruits toward the front doors to the courtyard. She sampled one of her latest finds in relish, looking forward to dinner that night. As she made her way to the front doors, she heard several voices, the voices of a crowd actually, and turned around.

A large group had gathered to watch from their houses as a small caravan made its way down the walkway. Several hooded figures progressed single file into the courtyard as she looked on. They wore emerald green robes, and it only took her a moment to realize who there guests were.

"Lief! Wake up!"

"Wha-"

Lief woke with a start as the library suddenly became much more crowded than he remembered. He blinked as he saw some Dread gnomes surrounding the table where he sat. He tried to rub the tiredness from his face as he felt a tug at his shoulder. He turned to see what must have been the eldest of the gnomes holding out a grubby little parcel, bound in leather.

"Take, take, Lief must take package from Shriivok the Seer!"

Lief raised his eyebrows. "Shree-wha-?

He quizzically picked up the package. It was bound with cords of hide, and there was some kind of lettering he could barely make out.

"To the current ruler of the city of Del."

"From an ever regretful Shriivok, may this help you more than it did I."


End file.
